I finally pushed myself to start on the GT550 carbs. It seems that the lower rubber boots have deteriorated to the point where they are melted goo. I got them out with a few curses and very dirty gummy hands and thought that Varsol ( maybe some call them mineral spirits) would easily clean them off. Wrong.....
My hand cleaner got my hands reasonably clean and the Varsol did nothing. I will try carb cleaner and parts cleaner later. I can't use my pumice-based hand cleaner on the carb slides though.
Has anyone encountered this before ? Any cleaning suggestions?
Well, I now know that carb cleaner gets it off with the help of a tooth brush. The bad part is it stinks and is very tedious so I can only do one slide set per day.
horrible stuff mate, as i know from experience. unfortunately you'd answered your own question before i saw it. btw if you haven't got new boots, there's a bloke in holland that sells repro items and they don't melt in petrol vapour
cheers, dd.
p.s. that's just supposing he still sells them.
GTS250 road registered. TS250 engine, Ramair frame.
GT250 big bang road registered. Both pistons fire the same time. USD forks.
GT285 road registered. Overbored - 58mm and TS125 +2 pistons fitted.
GT10 road registered. '65 T10 engine, GT250 frame.
kawonda750 wrote: ↑Sun Dec 10, 2023 7:59 am
Has anyone encountered this before ?
As far as I know, anyone with a 74 or newer GT380 or GT550 have encountered this. I replaced the boots on my 380B about 7 years ago and they have begun to melt again. They are still available from Suzuki, but I am afraid they won't last very long with today's fuel.
While you have the throttle arms off the shaft, check the arms around the keyway for cracks, I had 2 that were broken.
Interesting that this is common. I have both sets of boots. Since I am only a fair weather rider at this age, would I be fine to leave the boots off?
Or, do I just replace them every few years rather than wait for them to turn to this sticky mess? Encountering a whole new set of pitas and quirks with Suzukis as opposed to Kawis.
I didn't replace the throttle arm boot (upper boot), they don't seem to be a problem, they also wouldn't matter if left off. The throttle lever boot (lower boot) seals the slide chamber, I know some say they leave off, but I am not sure what effect this would have on fuel mixture.
Thanks Karl. I guess I will put both on but keep a close eye on the lower ones so I don't have to go through this again. Also, my wife is mad at me for stinking the house out with carb cleaner. One of the disadvantages of having the garage attached to the house.
My bad......
Well, I finally got the goop off all 3 slides. Did an ultrasonic cleaning of the carbs and then carb cleaner and blew out the passages. I have a huge selection of new jets so will use them and re=assemble the carbs. I sent the wheels and new tires that I received with the bike out to be mounted. ( I hate changing tires) . Frame is cleaned up and while the wheels are off I installed new rear brake shoes. Now, it is hurry up and wait for the crank to come back from the rebuilder. He always takes months to get at it but he is one of the only games in the area so patience is necessary.
I will get at polishing the cases soon. I always end up looking like Al Jolson after time on the electric buffing wheels. It's a really good look though...
I set up the carbs yesterday. Instructions how to set up the carb control were sketchy in the Suzi service manual, Haynes and Suzuki triples book. As with the Kawasaki site, thanks to Dale, mraxl , for his resource site . The Mikuni carb manual was very good and I managed to get the synch and set up right. Well I hope anyway.
I received and installed the new lower boots that are modern gas resistant. Again, hopefully anyway. I still haven't heard from the guy installing the new tires so that will have to wait until after the holidays.
